From the desk of Sergeant Iridescence
Acting Unit Sergeant
Princess Luna’s House Guard
On the morning of our last day in the Northern Kingdom, we bid warm goodbyes to our hosts. Duke Cassius had acted so wonderfully toward Luna it was clear to us all that he was sad to see her go. Both he and his wife had opened their home and treated us like family. It had been a wonderful trip.
“I am so sad that you are leaving already, Luna,” Duke Cassius’s wife had said, holding the Princess’s hoof in her claws. “I promise to write every week so that we can discuss gardening.”
Luna was all smiles. “Please do and I shall do the same!”
Duke Cassius arrived shortly after with several gift-wrapped boxes. “Princess, I have a few things for you and your sister. Please enjoy them when you’re home safely.” He set them aside for one of our ponies to carry before taking Luna’s other hoof.
“We shall count down the days before we can return to Equestria to visit and see all the good our agreement has done. You are always welcome in my household.”
I stood there quietly listening. The negotiations had gone really well and it was nice to see the Princess making friends. They did seem to be laying it on a little thick, but I knew the Duke and his wife were genuine and it was just their way.
Silent Knight was up early to arrange the march to the train station. He had been in a good mood since the evening before and looked to be enjoying the coordination with the gryphon soldiers. It was pretty odd to see given his general dislike of their kind. He had merely said to me, “Soldiers are soldiers.” I guess the Duke’s good mood was infectious and that certainly wasn’t a bad thing! Celestia knows he needed to lighten up a little bit.
Miley, Harvest, Thunder, Lightning, and the others were easy enough to get moving. They were clearly ready to go home. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but to my surprise I was missing Winterspear more than I thought I would. We’d not been together very long but it had just clicked. She had been on my mind the whole trip and, to be honest, I was a little distracted by thinking about getting back to her.
“All right, ponies, let’s do this by the numbers,” Lieutenant Rook called as he took the lead of the column. Duke Cassius had assigned a gryphon unit to us again and I noticed Silent Knight fell into step with the one named Alton. They actually seemed like pals.
We moved out with a great deal of fanfare. The Duke and his wife looked sincerely sad. They walked halfway down the hill with us and had even sent a band to play us off. It was actually pretty sweet.
I could also tell that Luna wasn’t quite ready to go home. She had confided in me that the time off had done her spirits a lot of good and she was hoping to stay a little longer before returning to the normal routine back at the palace.
“Keep together,” Silent Knight called. “We may be going home but let’s not be sloppy about it.”
My squad wasn’t quite in formation so I gently pushed my ponies back into line. It was a bit nitpicky, but Silent Knight was the boss and disobeying him in front of everypony would be foolish and rude. We were having enough trouble in our private life. I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him at work, too.
He’d been frightening when he caught me with Winterspear. There was violence in his eyes and he’d actually threatened me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t blame him for that. What frightened me was the conviction. His threat was more of a fact. Thankfully, we seemed to be on the mend, but I certainly wasn’t going to push it.
Just in front of me, the weird unicorn temple guard looked up and said, “I think the rain will begin soon…” but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. What in Equestria did that mean?
The tip of her horn illuminated and I could feel her drawing in a great deal of energy.
She had gotten to Silent Knight a few times during the trip and I wasn’t going to let her get into my head, too. I was just ready to have her out of my mane so I turned my attention away from her. Silent Knight seemed to react, however.
A chill went down my spine shortly after. I saw Silent Knight and the gryphon Alton discussing something quietly and the lieutenant dropping back to listen in. They were looking on either side of the road where we were passing between two rises. The discussion ended and Alton nodded. He leaped into the sky and as soon as he was airborne he screeched a warning and pointed to the north.
“Ambush!” Silent Knight yelled right before the shooting started.
From both sides of the road, crossbow bolts rained down on us. There were sudden cries of pain from ponies and gryphons alike. I watched in horror as Alton dropped from the sky like a rock, clearly hit. Lieutenant Rook gasped loudly, stumbled forward, and then fell.
And I just stood there.
“Shields, now!” Silent Knight commanded.
The temple guard’s horns were already erupting into light and domes appeared over us. They sent the bolts skittering but a lot of damage had already been done. Ponies were down and bleeding.
What was I doing?
Instincts finally kicked in. “Gather the wounded!” I shouted.
Miley Hooves was already helping Thunder Tumble up. He had been hit in the side and was, unfortunately, not the only one. Risky Storm had so many bolts sticking out of him… he wasn’t moving, either.
It was best to focus on the ponies nearest to me.
Exemplar Ferrel was walking about calmly in the chaos. Her horn was haloed in bright silver, holding up a dome wider than all of the others. Her expression was blank as if she were wandering about on a sunny day, but she was carefully helping ponies up and hoisted them off on other unwounded guards.
My attention was quickly drawn to Silent Knight as he worked the Lieutenant onto his back. I hurried over and gave him a hoof. Russet Rook groaned out the words, “Leave me. Get Princess Luna out of here.”
“No heroes today, Sir,” Silent Knight replied as he stopped to check Alton where he laid on the ground. A frown crossed his face and he gently set a hoof on the gryphon’s shoulder before looking up and yelling, “Focus, everypony! This is the real thing but we’ve trained for it. We need to get to the station. Iridescence, stay next to Princess Luna and shield her. Come on, ponies, help the wounded, we’re moving out now!”
The winds of magic brushed by my horn and I focused on them. Slowly, the shield expanded out and grew. I wrapped Luna in it and moved close to her side. That was my task, and I had to focus on it.
A scowl had darkened the Princess’s expression and it quickly turned to anger as she took stock of what was happening. I was worried about shock. Ponies, especially princesses that were locked alone in a moon for a thousand years, simply aren’t used to being dropped into a battle. The Princess quickly found herself, however, and moved with us. Her horn lit and readied what I could only assume would be lethal magic.
We started advancing again while the shields were doing their job of keeping the bolts away. Then the shooting suddenly stopped, I presume because the gryphons had figured it out. Five score or more leaped from their hiding places to land within our midsts and attack at close quarters.
The shields had not kept them out. It was most likely because the spell was designed to deflect fast moving objects, not present a wall.
Silent Knight hurried over and pushed the Lieutenant off onto my back. “Don’t drop him and don’t stop no matter what,” he commanded as he turned toward the gryphons and defended my rear.
Lieutenant Rook was barely conscious. He had been hit three times: the leg, the rear flank, and the side. I noticed Silent Knight had been hit, too, but it looked like his armor had spared him.
“Keep moving,” he ordered loudly over his shoulder.
I heard Lavender scream in pain but looking back wouldn’t help. Silent Knight said move so we moved forward. To be honest, I didn’t want to look back. I’d been in my share of fights. I’d even managed to make it through the changelings. This was nothing like that, though. This was different.
Luna actually growled and took aim with her horn. The gryphons that had landed in front us were struck by a devastating blue beam and sent reeling like rag dolls. Our escape route was clear.
Captain Alastair landed off to the right and sneered, “The Princess will fetch a hefty ransom from the Duke. He is so enthralled by you ponies. Unfortunately, the rest of you won’t be necessary. If you surrender, though, I might let you live.”
Silent Knight didn’t hesitate for an instant. He charged and reared up on his hindlegs. I think the gryphon had grossly underestimated what it would feel like to be hit by a stallion wearing hoofguards. He barely tried to block in a sign of foolish bravado. Silent Knight hit him twice and knocked him down.
“Keep moving forward!” he yelled. “Fighting retreat!”
Our ponies and the remaining gryphon guards engaged the would-be raiders while we kept moving the Princess forward. I could see the train station and knew if we could get to the train we might get away.
“Hurry, everypony! We’re almost there,” I called as the melee behind me continued.
Captain Alastair was back up and moving much more carefully as he circled Silent Knight. The two leaped at each other viciously. He and Silent Knight fought at a brutal tempo. There was no love lost between them.
Alastair got a few good licks in but it was a somewhat one-sided fight. Silent Knight, for all his social awkwardness, was a professional warrior. He devoted too much of his life to it and it showed. His hooves found the gryphon numerous times before the pair locked up and went to the ground.
They wrestled and the advantage quickly shifted to the gryphon given his claws and size. I heard a crack and Silent Knight grunted in pain. His right wing hung limp and I turned to go to him but Sergeant Orchid shoved me from behind.
“No,” she commanded firmly enough to keep me moving forward.
“Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving,” I repeated over and over again.
Luna’s horn burst into light and she shot gryphons out of the air that were foolish enough to get in front of us as we neared the station. I was struggling to keep my shield up and around her, but thankfully the temple guards had layered us in protection. The ponies we had advanced ahead of were not as lucky. Crossbow bolts started to fly toward anypony that wasn’t under the cover of a spell.
I stole a quick glance over my shoulder just long enough to see Silent Knight up and moving again. He was shaky and his wing was bent at an angle I knew was unnatural. I didn’t see Alastair anywhere.
The shield had left several more ponies unprotected and there were numerous small combats occurring behind us. Silent Knight was milling around trying to help ponies disengage. He trampled a downed gryphon attacker as he charged forward to knock two others off of Harvest Moon. They got up together and galloped after us with a few ponies in tow. Too few.
The gryphons moved to pursue, including a wobbling, beaten Captain Alastair, who dropped out of the sky.
As we reached the station, I yelled, “Miley, get to the engine and get us moving, now!”
She went without responding and I sent the Princess in with the temple ponies. Sergeant Orchid was helping the wounded on as I went back toward the rest of our unit. I barely felt the weight of the Lieutenant on my back or Exemplar Ferrel step up to my side.
The train started pulling out from the station, car by car. From where I was, it looked like the gryphons would catch the stragglers for sure, at least until Ferrel got to work. Her horn lit once more into brilliant silver and, just like that, every gryphon suddenly fell from the sky as if they were too heavy to keep themselves aloft.
Our ponies also seemed to struggle to move but Silent Knight shouted, “Gravity spell. Don’t give up. Keep going!”
They didn’t need much more encouragement than his words and a few shoves. As the last car was starting to pull out they arrived at the platform. Exemplar Ferrel stepped on, maintaining her spell, and so did the others. Silent Knight was pulling up the rear.
“Come on, Sergeant!” Miley Hooves called from over my shoulder. “I got us going!”
I waited a step longer and got onto the last car with her. Huffing and puffing, Silent Knight leaped off the end of the platform and landed on the back of the train. He was the last pony on. I didn’t care to think about how many others were back on the road. They had fought valiantly, as had our gryphon escorts.
“We made it,” I breathed but he shook his head and pointed. The range of the gravity spell was finite and it seemed the further you were from the caster, the easier it was to move. Some were flying again. Others were loping on all fours and looked determined to get their prize.
“Gravity or not, they’re coming. Move the Princess as far forward as we can! We’ll get rid of some of the weight and speed the train by dropping the extra cars. We don’t need to ride in style. Go!” Silent Knight ordered and we all moved into the door just as the first gryphons started catching onto the rails and pulling themselves up.
Miley, to our surprise, pulled some potions out of her pack and threw them at the back of the car. Where they landed, flame immediately sprung to life. That certainly slowed the gryphons down but they kept piling in. We charged through the overly long rows of seats while the back was fully engulfed. When we reached the doorway between the last and next car, I felt two hooves hit and then shove my rump forward. The force plus the weight of the Lieutenant on my back carried me into the next car. Rook landed past me with a thud and a groan.
As I looked back, I saw Captain Alastair with his claw around Silent Knight’s hindhoof, holding him as he struggled and kicked. Silent had landed between the cars, right by the coupler.
Our eyes met and I shouted, “Don’t!”
He pulled the pin holding the two cars together without hesitation and our half immediately leaped forward as his began to slow. The whole rear of the car was on fire and I saw him kick Alastair right in the beak, knocking him back. The only way out was the door Silent Knight occupied. He stood in it, drew his sword, and spread his unbroken wing to trap the gryphons inside the burning car while we raced down the track, leaving him to face them alone.
My heart sunk and I laid wearily onto the floor, watching Silent Knight drift further and further away.
hot damn!
Crap, cliff hangers, my mortal enemy!
Huh, interesting point, and this explains the shift in pov.
Dang.
I actually feel bad for those poor gryphons. Trapped in a train car by a raging inferno of death.
The car is also on fire.
Wow. I guess the next few chapters will be from Iridescence's, Luna's or Winterspear's perspective. I can't wait to read what happens next. Great job. A bit dark, but awesome.
5761296 feathers and fur burn...
Must. have. MOOAAAAARRRR!
I didn't see that coming.... but I think I like it.
I do hope Silent makes a successful escape
5761439 I think he will, but that's just me. He does have that sword he was given, which was perfectly balanced for him. Even if he doesn't, he'll sure as hell take many with him.
Even knowing that it's coming doesn't make it any less frustrating to read...
And that intro makes me think uncomfortable thoughts. That was an official header, not a simple letter or something Iridescence would have written in the field. So now the big question is this: How far into the future is she writing from?
Given that it's being written by Iridescence and has her labeled as the acting sergeant, I'm betting that Silent's still MIA. That's not a good sign, even though I know he can't actually die.
In other news, things are going to be very difficult for the griffins from here on out. Even if the attack was only perpetrated by a small number and had no backing from their government, the griffins are in a bad spot. The fact that the attack was perpetrated against one of the Equestrian princesses and by an official--and very high ranking--guard of the griffin nation will basically give the Equestrians the leverage they need to demand just about anything from the griffins, even if only for their failure to prevent the attack in the first place.
Wow! Exemplar Ferrel is awesome!
GHAA! You can't end the bucking chapter there!!!
If you didn't update so often we would have words about this cliffhanger.
Please sir can I get my next fix.
5761566
The duke is a good guy. From the way it sounded, Alistair was just commenting on the duke in a derogatory way because he was willing to be friends with the princess and her entourage.
That hurt to read.
5761500 I'm 90% sure he'll survive, he is the main character after all
Wasn't expecting the action to amp up this much. Nicely done! Can't wait for the resolution.
5761439 5761500 5761527 5761646
Even if he doesn't survive, it's no big deal. He hasn't died before, so they'll just wish him back with the dragon balls.
What?
Why're you all looking at me like that?
5761674
This seems like a perfectly logical argument to me. I see no reason why that shouldn't be successful.
I wonder about Captain Alistar's past? Even if his plan had succeeded he'd have been essentially throwing away his life and become a wanted fugitive in the Griffon Kingdoms. No small thing for a respected military captain. There has to be more to his motives than a simple hatred of ponies.
Oh snaps! SO MUCH YES!
5761674 randomassaultpodcast.com/storage/images/mlp_wat.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1338849233692
Well then.
Wait, I though SK said "no heroes"? Dang, well we will just have to wait until next chapter. Alastair is a real douche, but to go rogue and try to hold Luna ransome...damn, let's hope SK gives that damn chickencat a real asswhoopin'. Oh yeah one more thing. Painted Wave makes Exemplar Ferrel look even more like Joan of Ark! Damn she is good at what she draws. And just curious...How did you think up Exemplar Ferrel's name?
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Protagonists aren't invincible. The story is called Memoirs of a Royal Guard. Iridescence is a Royal Guard. I mean I really hope I'm wrong but I'm just saiyan...
noooooooo!!!! Silent Knight!!! *sniff* This shiz just got a whole lot darker.
5762143 That's why I said 90% sure
but we at least gotta have a chapter explaining what happened (or not, to reinforce the sadness effect)
but as I think about it...
he has a broken wing, he's facing multiple griffins (all of them are warriors), he probably has battle fatigue, with who knows what else...
I'm starting to think it's more of a 90% chance he'll die, even though I do not want it to be.
Dangit, I'm getting teary from just thinking about it....
this story has thrown a few shockers at me,
(exhibit A: I've never seen a breakup in a fiction, it's always been "perfect relationship")
this story has been unpredictable, and I like it, I've read far to many books that use the same cliche's over and over again. (I've read over seventy books, given my Gbooks has sixty different books in it, as well as my 20+ bookshelf, and I've read them all)
I really appreciate all of the comments on the chapter everyone. The discussion and interaction is awesome. I don't want to spoil anything so I'm going to be very tight lipped this go around.
5761296 Not to make light of the situation at all but this comment is pure win.
I... there are no words... This chapter was so intense (a little lacking on details in my opinion), and I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I saw that it wasn't Silent telling the story.
Read below for possible griping.
I do have a couple critiques about the descriptions of the fight though. As it sounded, out of the two groups of guards and however many griffons that were there, it sounds as if only around 5 ponies and a handful of griffons made it. I don't know if it is the case, but it's just a sore point for me, I usually like a head/body count to see who is where and who isn't. Forgive my nagging, I know that there will probably be something like that in the coming chapters, but when named cast are being killed like that I just find it considerate to the readers (especially the owners of the OCs) to give them an idea of the damage report. The chapter on a whole also seemed to be a little fast paced, but I will not give you grief about it since it really demonstrates the chaos of the situation.
I'm about 90% sure the Knight won't be Silenced just yet (I'm so sorry XD)
Too many unfinished arcs and loose ends, not enough closure. Plus we know the Duke sent a whole unit wit them for the trip back, granted we don't know how big the unit was but we can INFER it was at least somewhat substantial. And we know the Duke and his house are incredibly fond of Luna so we can infer again that the guards left behind and the, I guess you can call them, Loyalist griffons aren't going to just lay down and take this slap to the face by these rebel scum (long live the Empire)
Unless the Duke was in cahoots with our rouge griffon captain and his friendliness was just to bamboozle everyone into a false sense of security.
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Anzel pls don't do this to us
Spoilers
5762288 That joke...
5762281 The pacing and chaos is very intended. I can say that I would never kill or maim someone else's OC without permission. If I didn't reach out to you, your OC is fine.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH NOOO SILENT! YOU HAVEN'T FOUND LOVE AGAIN YOU CAN'T DIE HERE!!!
5761540 You can say that again!
I like this, including the change in POV via the after-action report, but I do have a few issues:
1.) It feels rushed. Its okay to get excited about a scene you enjoy but you have to remember to pump the brakes here and there. Take your time. The whole battle feels lacking on details.
2.) Considering you chose the format of an after-action report, the references to Iridescence missing Winterspear and other emotional background stuff feels out of place. Even with the idea that it was written soon after the actual event before her adrenaline had worn off, the little tangents like that, while perfectly welcome in a normal chapter, break the immersion.
3.)
Can I get some honeyglaze on that ham? This is one of the things that really breaks me out of it. I know you can write better dialogue than this. I've seen it, both here and in 'Three of Hearts.' This is one of the things that makes me feel like you let yourself get carried away with excitement instead of pacing yourself.
Overall I still like it, but it definitely feels weaker than it should, especially considering how much lead time you've given this scene.
5762244
I write a story called Silly Shorts for Silly Ponies. Comments like that are sort of what I do, especially if they're inappropriate for the situation. I'm like the Krillin to your Goku.
Which, actually doesn't do much for my own life expectancy.
5762865 It actually feels rushed by intention. I have a fairly hard time adequately remembering and explaining what happened to me yesterday. In this particular case Iridescence has been through a dramatic experience where she kept most of her focus in one area. Fuzzy details, mistakes, etc. It was a stylistic choice.
There is also further ambiguity by design. Is this actually an after action report? It is from her desk but who is the intended audience? How soon was it written? The goal was to make this feel like a different author. Based on the feedback I think I succeeded. Possibly not for the better if you prefer "Silent Knight's" style of writing.
I will offer one tiny spoiler. The dialog was actually very, very carefully chosen. That is assuming he even actually said that. That is the trick with first hand accounts. Everyone saw, heard, and experienced something different.
My thoughts on Alastair
SILENT YOU BETTER SURVIVE DAMN IT! DONT MAKE ME COME IN THERE! anyway I enjoyed seeing this from Sergeant Iridescence viewpoint of the ambush. But damn these cliff hangers!! *waits impatiently*
So, ever since I read the chapter, something about Exemplar Ferrel had been bugging me. During the fight, she seemed... surprisingly ineffective. And while I was at work last night I finally realised why I felt that was the case.
It was her shield. Specifically, the timing. She's been dropping these pseudo-prophetic warnings ever since she joined the group, and even warned about the attack right before it happened, but she was surprisingly slow to put up her shield. Granted, the exact nature of her foresight has never been explained and the skewed nature of first person narration could be making it worse, but it still stuck out to me as being slightly out of place.
The other thing about her shield that bugged me is that it stopped arrows but did nothing to block the griffins themselves. In a general sense, most shielding magic is described as blocking either physical effects, or magical effects, so if it blocked arrows it should have blocked the girffins themselves as well. But even if the logic that governs the shields in this case is more esoteric, there would still be a static rule as to what was and was not allowed through the shield, and unless that rule is, "this shield blocks arrows and small projectiles and nothing else," I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.
Oh, and more proof that Silent will live through this: His name is in the title, so the chances of him dying before the end are slim. There's no tragedy or sad tag, so the chances of him dying during the course of the story at all are basically non-existent. The story is being written in first person, so if Silent died there would need to be a new perspective character and that change hasn't happened. If Silent was really dead and there was going to be a permanent perspective shift, this chapter would have just been the battle from Iridescence's perspective without the framing of the letter to mark it as a temporary shift in order to build tension (unless the perspective shift was going to be to someone who had been left behind in Canterlot, but Sunny already has a story and Winterspear isn't in the title).
He'll escape from the train, wounded and weak, and then be saved from a slow death in the wilderness by an act of Deus ex Batpones (I still don't think batpones are really a thing in this world because of Luna's reactions--or lack thereof--during Nightmare Night.)
Plot armor...
Both kinds
5763604
I'm gonna go with a kinetic shield designed to stop things moving over a specific velocity
easier to maintain considering it doesn't block all matter and effective over a wide range
5763622
Yeah, that would be the projectile specific barrier I was thinking of. But given that there are several of the temple guards, and all of them are known to be well above average in terms of raw power, it seems like they could have afforded to make the shields more durable, at least long enough for the rest of the guards to recover and regroup from the surprise attack.
5763639
Super tired right now ill respond in a coherent manner after sleep
5763604 5763622
A question I can answer without spoilers (even though it is already been figured out). The barrier is indeed designed to keep out small, fast moving projectiles. Here was my logic:
1. Shining Armor's barrier that kept out the changlings in Canterlot was a fixed barrier. It didn't move. It also took a lot of energy from him (although we could debate that it was being drained by his fake-pony-wife-to-be). We do know that spells draw a lot of energy though.
2. Canon characters are special and break the rules. The non-named temple guards are not as good with shields as Shining Armor (it may be his talent. His cutie mark is a shield). Ferrel isn't either. All of my OCs are, for the most part, not as powerful as canon characters.
3. The movement thing and spell preparation. Kinetic bubble centered on the caster and not a place. Also, a far smaller energy amount used and quick casting.
As far as Ferrel delaying, and I know you're all going to get tired of me saying this, there was a purposeful reason that if explained would spoil future plot elements. I will reveal it though =)
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5763907
Even in the comments you leave us with cliffhangers...
fiiiine... I guess I'll wait for the next chapter, then... But I'll go ahead and throw this out now, if Ferrel let a lot of ponies die just to put Silent in the "proper" position for some obscure prophetic whatever to happen, I will be very cross with her.
If, by some cruel twist of fate, Silent Knight doesn't survive, he will become a rallying cry and symbol for the Lunar House Guard for generations, longer if Luna has anything to say about it. I hope this doesn't happen, but it's nice to know how one would be remembered. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
5762143 Oh damn, you have a very good point...Also being that the pespective suddenly shifted too. I suppose we will have to wait and see in the next chapter yes?
5765336 Just a thought, I really hope I don't have to add Silent Knight to that list of pictures lol
5765553 Hello there! Welcome back to the story. Thank you very much for the praise, it is very much appreciated. I try to have a bit of dry wit in there for him. I hope to keep you laughing ;D
There's the attack we've all been expecting, and given the description of it there's no way they don't have fatalities. Risky Storm for one, and it doesn't sound like Alton was alive either after the initial attack, especially since he wasn't ever mentioned as one of the wounded being brought with.
Yeah, I was expecting something like this from the top of the chapter given who the viewpoint character was.
Man, what a fubar situation. Talk about an international incident in the making.